This doesn’t come easily and some people may just not be your cup of tea, however effective strategies can build great contacts for now and the future! Here I provide some effective examples of what not to do, and how to make sure you are getting the most out of the relationships you have.

1) Cold calling and starting a relationship has its challenges and many people judge within the first few seconds of meeting or speaking with you, so it’s important to set a great example from the start. When you are speaking or meeting a job seeker or a hiring manager, make sure you have a set agenda prepared with an objective and an outcome. Everyone is busy, and if you are not prepared, you could be wasting time. Be respectful of everyone’s time. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

2) One of the most important aspects is to listen! Too many companies I’ve met with have given me feedback that the “typical recruiter” never listens. One contact I caught up with recently, was explaining to me that she received a cold call from a recruiter and he asked to book a visit to introduce himself. Now I know this contact well, and she has a lot of time and patience as she has worked in outsourced recruitment previously, however the recruiter made it very clear, that he was reading from a script. There is nothing wrong with using a script but it is there as a guide, not something you read word for word. After explaining the process of how she engages with agencies, he continued to read the script and pressed for a visit. At this point, my contact, the hiring manager, started to lose her patience and confronted him. Long story short, the telephone call ended rather quickly.

Listen to what your stakeholder is saying, acknowledge the objection and provide a solution. You can get a general feel of whether there will be an outcome from listening and this will save time for everyone. Appreciate the person’s point of view and make an agreement on the next steps of contact.

3) Lastly, my advice would be to just be yourself! Artificial intelligence is growing and playing a huge part in sales and customer service roles which should be taken as a positive. The initial steps taken to find contacts can be achieved by bots and automation, which gives you more time to build your relationships with the right people. By being yourself, you are setting yourself apart from your competitors. Using these small tips will assist you in forming the long lasting relationships you need to be successful.

The best part about what I do is the fact that I have built some great relationships and although some of them were as a result of different methods, by being myself and I would hope, authentic, I have gained long standing contacts and friends.